Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie Loses Primary to Trump-Backed Challenger
Ed Gallrein, a former Navy Seal, also had help from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
With 74% of the votes in at 8:06 PM, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has lost his primary to Ed Gallrein, a former Navy Seal backed by President Donald Trump.
The race became the most expensive primary in U.S. history. The candidates spent over $25 million.
And…Massie just cannot help himself. He consistently attacked Gallrein for taking money from pro-Israel groups.
Thomas Massie concedes: “It took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv. I have called and conceded the race.” pic.twitter.com/6gNdIiG8rb
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) May 20, 2026
Decision Desk HQ projects Ed Gallrein wins the KY US House 4 Republican Primary#DecisionMade: 7:41 PM EDT pic.twitter.com/fKQgbMNKzd
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) May 19, 2026
[Featured image via YouTube]
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Comments
Good riddance I hope CNN enjoys having Benedict Massie spewing his latest conspiracy theories.
No support for the Republican Agenda no position in the Republican Party.
Yup.
Let’s get in line with the greater GOPe agenda!
So it is the position of Henry Bowman that Kentucky State Law should not be enforced?
Trump’s candidate said enforce laws passed by the state legislature, signed by the governor, that Kentucky Residents never complained about should be enforced and he was correct which is why voters in Kentucky voted for him.
You are free to keep up operation demoralize by continuing to take a reasonable statement by the Republican candidate for congress out of context or you could fall in line behind MAGA.
Hang on ‘enforce the laws on the books’ is a platitude that, historically speaking, covers a multitude of, if not sins, then very bad things, some quite evil, many unconstitutional. I would bet dollars to donuts that KY has some statutes on the books they don’t enforce b/c they are unconstitutional or plain stupid. Do you want this enforced as well simply b/c they remain ‘on the books’ which in practice sounds familiar to ‘following orders’.
“you could fall in line behind MAGA.”
Danny isn’t MAGA. He’s card-carrying GOPe.
Massachusetts has a law against blasphemy.
In Gainesville County GA, eating fried chicken with utensils is legally punishable.
In Connecticut, it is illegal to walk backwards after sunset.
In Hawaii, you cannot store a coin behind your ear.
Here in Arizona, it’s illegal to allow your donkey to sleep in a bathtub.
I have come across two of my donkeys asleep in their bathtub feeder (while they were still of an age to fit in it), and did nothing about it whatsoever.
Call the cops on me, Danny.
It would help if you could point to the specific law in the state of Kentucky. There is an example of heavy gun restriction (by denying bullets) being appealed to the Supreme Court right now FROM ILLINOIS.
Kentucky isn’t a blue state, it didn’t pass laws to criminalize gun ownership if you are unable to get a gun in Kentucky legally I do not think you should have one. I respect you enough that I just looked up what the restrictions in Kentucky are and I fully agree if you can’t be prevented from committing violent felonies you should not have a gun. Kentucky is Kentucky is a “shall-issue” permitless carry state where anyone 21 or older who can legally possess a firearm may openly or concealed carry without a license. The state does not require firearm registration, permits to purchase, or waiting periods, and recognizes broad Castle Doctrine protections.
Begs the question. Many/most people who are rejected by NCIS have never committed a violent felony, and of those who have many/most show no propensity to commit another one, or can be prevented from doing so.
What about adults who are under 21? Why should they need a license?
I doubt any of these are true.
In many cases, Millhouse, these laws are on the books, but not enforced very often. You don’t get any action to take a law off the book long past it by date. There are many mini unenforced laws sitting on books.
Yeah, but I doubt any of these are real laws at all. The blasphemy one is the only one that was definitely the law once upon a time, and therefore might still be cluttering up the books, even though it’s no longer the law. But I doubt any of the others were ever law. They sound made up.
Danny,
Your restatement of Henry’s position ‘…..Kentucky State Law should not be enforced’… while pithy didn’t have a limiting principle narrowing it to apply only to 2A issues. Instead your argument effectively demanded that all laws ‘on the books’ should be enforced and that this position was justified.
Had you qualified the statement it wouldn’t be as pithy though it would have far more defensible. So of there are blatantly unconstitutional or stupid/outdated ‘laws on the books’ in KY you are now locked into the position for fully supporting them. If I recall correctly one statute prohibits Women from wearing a ‘bathing suit’ on the highway …unless she is escorted by police officers. A quick internet search would likely reveal more State laws and municipal ordinances that are bat crap Crazy and should NOT be enforced simply b/c they ‘are on the books’.
I think it was pretty clear the discussion was on Kentucky’s gun laws, which rank among the freest in the country.
Henry was trying to pain Gallrein as a gun grabbing rino. He was effectively being a sore loser and slandering the primary winner.
If you can’t purchase a gun in Kentucky chances are you can’t purchase one in any other state either, and while false convictions have happened even according to well known defense attorneys like Alan Dershowitz a vast majority of defendants are guilty.
“I doubt any of these are true.”
How does this taste?
From 1999:
Currently, Massachusetts has laws that prohibit “embellishing” the
national anthem (fine: $100), premarital sex (three months in jail),
purchasing a rabbit as a family pet ($100), going to a bar for the
purpose of seeking sex (one year in jail), spiting on a steamboat
($20), committing blasphemy against the Christian God (one year in
jail), and selling a condom to an unmarried woman (three years in
jail).
A State Police officer responded to that posting that the “spitting on a steamboat” law still gets active use on the Woods Hole-Nantucket/Martha’s Vineyard ferry.
Henry, your link doesn’t work for me. It times out.
I don’t doubt that MA once upon a time had a law against blasphemy — the common law did, and therefore so did each of the founding colonies — and the text of that former law may very well still be cluttering the law books since the legislature never bothered repealing it, but you know very well that it is no longer the law. Any prosecutor who tried enforcing it would be hit with legal sanctions, and any policeman who tried enforcing it would not get qualified immunity, because they know it’s no longer a law.
As for the other examples you gave, I don’t believe any of them were ever the law, in the cited counties/states or anywhere else. There are many such lists of purported laws that circulate; they’re all made up by comedians, not taken from actual law books.
The second list of MA laws you supplied are laws that actually do make at least some sense, and are the sort of laws that legislatures do make.
The first, second, and sixth are no longer laws, even if they’re still to be found in an obsolete law book. The 3rd and 5th are probably still valid. The 4th and 7th are probably no longer valid but a policeman would likely have qualified immunity from lawsuits if he tried arresting someone, and a prosecutor would likely not be sanctioned for trying to bring such charges, at least not beyond the judge calling him an idiot.
I don’t know why the link doesn’t work for you. It’s a link directly to the online version of Massachusetts state law. ACTIVE law, not some dusty lawbook. Twice within my memory, there was a campaign to repeal this blasphemy law. It failed both times.
“So it is the position of Henry Bowman that Kentucky State Law should not be enforced?”
Some of those laws are unconstitutional. Those laws should not be enforced. Same as any other state.
“enforce laws passed by the state legislature, signed by the governor, that Kentucky Residents never complained about should be enforced and he was correct”
Here’s your “context,” Danny.
“That Kentucky Residents never complained about?” 🤣🤣🤣🤡
That is called an op ed.
What is called facts is that Kentucky ranks in the top tier for gun rights.
https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/what-are-the-most-gun-friendly-states-for-gun-owners/
If you are unable to legally purchase a gun in Kentucky it means police put you in the database as a dangerous convicted felon likely to reoffend.
You also can’t vote in Kentucky if they do that.
I support law and order, and because Kentucky voters picked a Navy Seal who believes in rule of law apparently so do they.
The primary is over and the asshole you supported lost deal with it
That is false.
That is also false.
Unconstitutional laws should certainly not be enforced. Even if the courts say they are constitutional.
Also, the question was “What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?” There are many laws on the books, even constitutional laws, that are not needed to protect public safety. Just because a legislature can do something doesn’t mean it should, let alone that it makes us any safer.
In any case, why are we even discussing Kentucky state law, when this is a primary for a US congressman? His opinion on state law is irrelevant, but his opinion on federal law is very relevant, and existing federal laws should not all be enforced, even those that are constitutional, let alone those that are not.
If his opinion on Kentucky State Law is irrelevant so is his statement about enforcing state laws made in the context of seeking a state office in Kentucky a year ago that he will not be occupying as a congressman, furthermore it is not congressmen who enforce the law it is the executive and finally he is against making new gun laws.
The only way to think Kentucky State Law is restrictive is if you want armor piercing rounds for fighting the military or feel felons should have guns which they shouldn’t considering felons are not permitted to vote in Kentucky (another right given by the constitution).
1. His opinion that existing laws are fine and should be enforced is certainly relevant. Enforcing existing laws is certainly better than making new ones, but it’s still not something a supporter of the RKBA should say.
2. Congressmen make the laws, and are responsible for repealing laws that shouldn’t exist.
3. “Armor piercing rounds”
4. Most felons should be allowed to have guns, since there’s no reason to believe they will use them to commit crimes.
5. In KY non-violent felons regain their right to vote automatically at the expiration of their sentence. But they can’t possess a weapon. Violent felons can get the governor to restore their right to vote, but not their right to possess a weapon.
6. Nowhere in the constitution is there a right to vote. Any right to vote comes from state constitutions, not the federal one. The federal one merely imposes certain restrictions on how states can regulate the franchise, not on whether they can do so. If the state chooses to create a right to vote, it may not use certain criteria to decide who gets it. It may use any other criteria.
Shut yo ass up!🤣🤣🤣
Yes that totally proves Gallrein is a RINO and his statement about enforcing Kentucky State Gun Laws in context of running for a state office means he is taking the guns out from under you.
You lost Trump won last night deal with it and enjoy the neo-Nazi podcasts Massie will be joining, his posing with American Reich will open many doors for himself.
Danny, I am happy Massie is out and if he wants to go on Neo-Nazi broadcasts so what? This America, where you have freedom of speech AND association. It just reveals who he really was all this time.
To anybody who actually is interested in evaluating the winner of the primary fairly (as in somebody who isn’t a total asshat and Tucker Carlson asscheek licker like Henry)
Here is the truth about Kentucky gun laws
Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC): In the Firearms Policy Coalition 2026 State Freedom Index, Kentucky scored 95.45%, placing it firmly in the highest “Freeish State” tier (just below the two 100% “Chad States”).
Ammo.com (Ease of Purchase): A 2026 Ammo.com Report lists Kentucky as one of the 10 easiest states in the country to buy a gun due to zero state-level bureaucratic hurdles or permit-to-purchase requirements.Ammo.com
(Gun Ownership Rates): Kentucky ranks 12th in overall gun ownership rates, with a highly dense population of per-capita firearm owners.Guns & Ammo Magazine: In historical multi-category assessments evaluating gun laws, right-to-carry, and local shooting culture, Kentucky regularly places in the top 15.
Everytown for Gun Safety: The Everytown 2026 Gun Law Rankings place Kentucky 40th in the nation for gun law strength, labeling the state’s framework as part of the “National Failures” tier.
Giffords Law Center: The Giffords annual scorecard gives Kentucky an “F” grade, ranking it 47th out of 50 states for its legislative framework.
In light of how reasonable Kentucky State Law is on guns I fully agree with the winner of the primary they should be enforced.
I do not want violent felons to vote, I do not want them to have guns, I do not want pedophiles living near schools.
Point of personal privilege.
You RINOs sure have filthy mouths.
Point of privilege
I do not engage any other ways with Nazi sympathizers such as yourself, and no there is no other way to support Tucker Carlson month after month when he came out as a Holocaust denying WW2 revisionist.
Being a person originally from KY, where I obtained my first concealed carry license many many many moons ago. I can tell you that truthfully KY is no different than most of the other non stupid liberal state, I have lived in and bought firearms in KY, Oh, Il, Ga, Ok, Wa, and MI. the only state that had restrictions beyond federal at the time I lived there was IL and they required a FOID card, today WA may be a little stricter not because it wasn’t as loony liberal back then as it is now.
Massie was in office for 16 years. What did he do about the NFA and the GCA? Not a damned thing.
He did this.
Where “this” included refusal to vote for NICS expansions without fixing its flaws.
Now, let’s see how principled Gallrein is.
now if we can just get rid of the two twits on the northern states of both sides of the country.
He will do as much crap as he can , just like Cassidy, till his seat is over unfortunately
The irony is because he was already doing that we didn’t even lose anything short term. We have a very tough midterm ahead unfortunately.
Exactly. They’ve already been screwing us for years, and would have continued if they had won.
The next few months is no different. We won’t pass much, but the RINOs weren’t letting anything pass anyway.
No we don’t.
Interesting.
Massie acted like a modern day Maverick McCain, pretending to be a stalwart defender of the realm while simultaneously being corrupted by the system.
He, like McCain, will not be missed.
Funny thing is the cognitive dissonance right now from the MSM.
They’re telling us how unpopular Trump is citing their own polling while Trump backed candidates are wiping the floor with their opponents.
Almost makes you think that the MSM is full of 💩
Also, so much for “disillusioned Trump voters won’t turn out for the midterms.” It seems they’re still turning out for Trump. Hopefully they will continue to do so.
Massie, Cassidy, Tillis. These guys will sabotage. Almost as bad as the true blue haters.
Almost? You jest sir
Cassidy already has, and will continue to be a sanctimonious asshat for the next 8 months.
Good riddance to more bad RINO rubbish.
It’s absolutely comedy watching the Massholes try to claim hes the ‘real conservative’ when pieces of leftist trash like Ro Khanna wrote articles on him thay had more glaze than a Krispy Kreme.
Rodney Khanna, Ana Kasperian, the NYT, Politici, and all the rest weren’t out there in the last week shilling for Massie because he was a ‘true conservative’.
My fresh popcorn is next to me as I scroll all the Masshole meltdowns about DIRTY JEW AIPAC MONEY and ISRAEL WON
Exactly. If you have a Democrat with a funny name lamenting your loss you’re doing things all kinds of wrong.
Truthfully, what Ro Khanna laments is that there will be no Republican who can give him cover for his Epstein bullshit investigation.
Another excellent post by Olinser.
Poor little Massie. The sad little man will always have Boebert to console him. She reportedly sent a case of Kleenex tissue to wipe his poor little eyes.
The Squad and. The NYT favorite republican is gone. In a race where he outspent his challenger and it was all somehow about Jews ; this loser managed to reach new depths of bigotry. Good riddance and hopefully this is a bell weather for the GOP that antisemitism isn’t your ticket to power like it is with the jackass party.
s/bell weather/bellwether
Completely different beast.
Yes thank you for that ; it’s the internet so I do want I can but what can I say spelling errors and grammar mistakes only make our context clue reasoning stronger.
Milhouse, Master of the Unnecessary Pedantry.
I’m afraid I went to the same school.
Normal people are happy when such errors are pointed out, so they don’t keep repeating them.
Very good win for Trump. No question about it, the value of Trump endorsement is showing its power; Indiana legislative races, LA Senate primary, now KY HoR race, KY Gov race with TX Senate primary on deck next week. I think Massie was valuable in Congress as a gadfly willing to call out big spending (regardless of party), budget accounting nonsense, lax fiscal/monetary discipline that created a $39 Billion National debt, consistent demands for transparency in/by our Federal gov’t and putting America First by ending ALL foreign aid.
Many of y’all disagree and believe he won’t be missed or that his negatives out weighed his positives. That’s fine, its still a free country (mostly) and everyone gets an opinion. Time will tell whether the winner of the GoP primary is more than a Trump rubber stamp and how beholden (if at all) he is to those who poured in tens of $ millions to defeat Massie or how much political longevity he has at age 68.
I guess that Lauren Boebert endorsement was not a game changer.
Massie must have either given her a heck of a bribe or blackmailed her for her to be that stupid.
I mean Massie was obviously desperate, but what did she gain from inserting herself into a race on the losing side? She just looks like a clown.
Or gave her something else.
There are other races too, btw.
Andy Barr won the KY Senate Primary over the McConnell endorsed RINO Cameron.
That is great news
Massie filed a bill that essentially would require AIPAC to register as a foreign agent. He also spewed a lot about Jewish billionaires funding his opponent. Well why wouldn’t they. Aren’t Jews allowed to fund who they would prefer for any reason? Obvious not according to Massie. Jew funding is a special form of nefarious funding for some reason or another.
To be fair his proposed legislation would also apply to any other lobbying entity with similar structure, organization and purpose as AIPAC. It’s America and Jews like everyone else can contribute to campaigns. Even when they contribute tens of $ millions to defeat the guy who pointed out AIPAC was a powerful, well heeled lobby that effectively represented the goals of the organization. Their money and their call how/whether to spend it on whatever campaign they wish. Personally I’d take the claims of antisemitism more seriously if they had instead spent the $ to defeat the guy with a Nazi SS totenkopf tattoo over his heart but apparently these donors were more interested in defeating the guy who wanted to reform the FARA statute.
There’s time to defeat the Maine Nazi. But Massie’s proposed perversion of FARA would be dangerous and unconstitutional. More to the point, his attacks on AIPAC were antisemitic, and themselves provided a perfectly good reason for AIPAC to do all it could to persuade the voters that they didn’t want to vote for him.
Blatant antisemitism like that would have me voting for a beanie baby rather than someone who truly believes that crap.
A 10% margin difference is closer than the earlier polls I saw cited they gave a 60/40 20% margin against Massie being re-nominated by probable registered (R) voters.
Massie got a LOT of out-of-state anti-Trump donations, so I wonder how many TDS afflicted (D)s and (I)s last-minute registered as (R)s to boost those numbers.
BTW – real class act to concede with an anti-Semitic dig accusing the primary winner of owing allegiance to Israel instead of the USA. I’m old enuf to remember when similar but anti-catholic bigotry was the go-to for (D)s wherever a candidate was Catholic – some (figurative) leopards may change the tint of their spots but they still keep having spots.
What a bigoted piece of excrement, Massie is. Good riddance to this trash. Now he can spend more time in Islamofascist/Muslim supremacist company and enclaves, in Gaza, or wherever.
Like the greasy and vile Qatari prostitute, Tucker Qatarlson, Massie seems to be one of those so-called “Christians” who’s totally and contemptibly dismissive of Jesus Christ’s Jewish origins, and Christianity’s origins in Judaism.
Newsmax had Massie on for quite some time amd some “supporters”, political “experts”
I didn’t see , but don’t know, if Ed Gallrein was on today
Off topic but I’ll just leave this ditty here,
“In an Instagram post last week, Maureen Galindo said she would turn the “Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for American Zionists and former ICE officers for human trafficking.”
“It will also be a castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists,” Galindo wrote, referring to herself in the third person.
Galindo, a sex therapist and housing activist, is running for a seat in the newly redrawn 35th Congressional District, facing Johnny Garcia in a primary runoff.”
Well I don’t own a gun. It’s people like this which will lead me to purchase one and practice with it. For contingencies of course.
What state?
The great state of TX…she sounds like she fits right in (sarc)
If true, good. This is what Dems have been doing to Reps for decades, and it’s about time Reps did it back to them.
good find
looked her up
what a pos
but that begs the question..is this why the tex legislature is bowing and pushing for more blue state polices like the affordable housing lefty hoax!!!??
Those who curse Israel will be cursed. Simple as.
How’s your wife?
And not by a narrow margin either.
Well, it would take quite a long time, since he’s not there. Why would you be looking for him there?
Even if for some reason he were visiting Israel on Election Day, why would he be in Tel Aviv? What’s there that would attract him? If he were meeting government officials, they’re all in the capital, Jerusalem. If he were looking for US citizens who are registered to vote in a Republican primary in Tennessee, he won’t find many of those in Tel Aviv, which is a very leftist city. He’d do better to look in Har Nof, Bet Shemesh, Raanana, or other English-speaking enclaves. Or is it just that Massie can’t help let his antisemitism show, and the only Israeli city he can think of is Tel Aviv?
A while back I took the position that Massie was not anti Israel but was consistently against foreign aid of all kinds. Milhouse said I was not correct. Massie’s out the door dig at the guy who beat him shows Milhouse was right and I was wrong. I expect Massie to show up on Owens and Tuckers podcasts any day.
Thank you. My view was never based on aid, because I’m for cutting off the aid too. Israel doesn’t need it, and would be better off without it. So voting against aid isn’t in itself proof of hostility to Israel. It was always about his other statements and votes.
Well, if you listen to Netanyahu, apparently he agrees with you…
He’s a smart guy. Once Israel no longer receives aid that takes away one of the pillars antisemites hide behind in this country.
Indiana, Louisiana and now kentucky. It seems like maybe people are getting tired of losing and deciding to jettison the losers
I would also say that people are tired of being told to vote for Rinos because they are more “electable.” They even tried it with Cornyn claiming that Paxton can’t win against a gun grabbing communist in Texas.
Well, Cook does say that if Paxton wins the nomination it will officially move TX from the “Solid Republican” to the “Lean Republican” category.
That’s right people, the last thing Texans want is an effective Senate Representative in a very red state 🤔
So you’re saying that Cook don’t know their business and you do. Maybe you should offer them your services?
Im saying cook is blowing out its arse sweetie.
Cook pretty much always is one category to the left of whatever actually happens.
And what are they basing this on? What political position does Talarico hold that a majority of Texans hold? Btw Paxton has won three statewide elections while Talarico has only won in safe Democratic districts.
The reason for that is Paxton has a lot of debunked lies thrown against him over the last few years, and the Dems are going to recycle and repeat every one of them, 24/7 on every media channel they can. And moderate Texas Republicans are going to be more than happy to stick in a knife if they think they can get away with it. It will take a strong Republican leading the party, willing to backhand Republicans who try to campaign for Paxton’s (D) opponent, and keep the party focused on the goal.
I know that the momentum was swinging from Massie up 8 to Gallrein up 5 or 6 but I expected a 2 or 3 point race not an 8 point blowout. I don’t think Trumps endorsement hurt but I think Massie hurt himself more with his votes. The more the impeachments against Trump were shown to be partisan and constructed to remove him from office by deep state actors the more unhappy the people became with Massie.
I don’t understand. Massie spoke and voted against impeachment, both times. So I’m not seeing the connection between the impeachments and people’s perception of his votes on other matters.
yeah
his refusal to go along should not in it self necessarily be bad…but this is politics and as mccain proved when he voted for obamamabcare
troublemakers need to be ousted
Amen. Amen. Amen.
and the rinos are voting against maga as they leave
maybe new law>>you lose thats your 2 week notice
bye bye
Its a
Massiecure
I will note for the record that on other substacks I view, Massie’s supporters- after citing all his amazing libertarian bone fides- always end with “…and his opponent took AIPAC money”.
It really is, all about DA JOOOOZ for these people.